GAME PLAN for LIFE

Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Contents

Foreword > Tony Dungy...................................................................................IX1 No Game Plan, No Victory..............................................................................12 My Own Journey........................................................................................133 The Ultimate Playbook Can I Believe the Bible? > Josh McDowell.......................................234 The Coach Who Is God? > Ken Boa......................................................................475 Creation How Did Life Begin? > John C. Lennox........................................................657 Salvation How Do I Get on God's Winning Team? > Charles Colson........................................1078 Relationships What Does God Say about Marriage and Sex? > Don Meredith...............................1279 Finances How Do I Master My Money> Ron Blue..........................................................14510 Vocation 169 Vocation How Do I Build a Successful Life and Career? > Os Guinness.....................16911 Health How Do I Achieve True Health? > Walt Larimore, M.D...........................................18912 Purpose How Do I Get the Most Out of Life? > Tony Evans.............................................20513 Heaven Where Will I Spend Eternity? > Randy Alcorn..................................................22314 Still Battling.......................................................................................245Resources for Further Reading...........................................................................251My Team.................................................................................................255About the Authors.......................................................................................261Notes...................................................................................................263

Chapter One

"Joe, I've got awful news. Sean Taylor was shot early this morning. He's at Jackson Memorial in Miami." It was 6:00 a.m. on a Monday, and I'd just been awakened by a call from my boss, Dan Snyder, the owner of the Washington Redskins.

Sean Taylor was our superstar safety. He'd played in the Pro Bowl in 2006, and now in 2007 he was tied for most interceptions in the NFC, even though he'd missed the last two games. Some in the media said Sean had the talent to become one of the greatest NFL safeties of all time.

"How bad is it?"

"He got shot in the leg, so I'm not sure."

How bad can that be? I wondered. Certainly not life threatening.

Our first-round draft pick in 2004, Sean was having a remarkable season in what was otherwise turning out to be not such a great year for the Redskins. It was November, and we'd just lost to the Tampa Bay Bucs 19-13 at Tampa-our third loss in a row. We were 5-6 on the season, and it sure didn't look like we had a chance to get into the playoff s.

Due to a knee injury, Sean wasn't required to attend the Tampa Bay game. Instead, he was at home with his infant child and her mother in Miami, where he'd grown up.

This was my fourth year back as head coach of the Redskins, and my experience this time around was a long way from what the media had called the "Decade of Dominance," during my first stint as the Redskins' head coach from 1981 to 1992, when we won three Super Bowls.

Now this.

Sean Taylor-nicknamed "Meast" by his teammates because he was "part man and part beast," named by Sports Illustrated as the hardest-hitting player in the NFL-shot in the leg. To my horror and the devastation of our whole team, Sean died from his wounds the next day.

A year later, I was in my office at Joe Gibbs Racing in Charlotte, and the incident with Sean still weighed on me. The 2008 NASCAR season had ended, and I was catching up on business with one of our bankers, a good friend.

Out of the blue, he asked if I knew a certain college football coach. I did. "Well," my friend said, "I think you two have the same spiritual father, George Tharel."

I was more than a little surprised to hear George Tharel's name, because he had died seventeen years earlier in Fayett eville, Arkansas. George had taken me under his wing in 1971, when I was an offensive line coach for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. My wife, Pat, and I had met George just after we'd moved to Fayett eville and began attending the same local church.

Now here I was in my office in Charlotte-a world away from that college town-learning that the same man who'd had a huge influence on me had also inspired this other coach who had passed through Arkansas early in his career.

You might ask, "What's a spiritual father?" For me, he was the guy who took the time to help me understand the spiritual truths I still live by today.

George Tharel had been my Sunday school teacher for two years. He was a man quietly driven to make an impact on other men. As my career took me around the country, I stayed in regular contact with George, because the wisdom he shared kept me grounded and pointed in the right direction.

To anyone else, George might have looked like an ordinary guy. To me, he was extraordinary. He had a great family, managed the local JCPenney store, and served in his church. Here was someone who had lived his life to the fullest, had a big influence on others, and had been gone for years. That conversation with my banker friend about George Tharel got me thinking.

What had made George's life so significant? Money? No. That he'd worked his way up to manage a local department store? No. That's all forgotten and gone.

That he was some larger-than-life "life coach"? No.

If it was not fame or fortune or reputation, what was it?

What remains of George Tharel is the impact he had on other men's lives. Mine. The college coach my friend was talking about. And every man George took the time to teach spiritual truths throughout the years. His legacy lives through each of us today.

Sean Taylor's death made me realize how fragile life can be. George Tharel's life made me recognize the lasting impact our influence can have on others. As I thought about these two lives, I evaluated the kind of impact I was having on other men. With this book and the project that will follow, I want to pass on some of the truths I've learned and the most important discoveries I've made about life. I hope it will help you avoid some of the mistakes I've made too.

I'll come back to Sean and George again, later in the book. But first, let me set the stage for what's to come.

In the Company of Men

Okay, here's the deal: My whole life has been in the company of other men. I had a brother. I played sports from day one-baseball, basketball, and football in high school, football in college-and I coached in college and the pros. Pat and I have two sons. I now own a NASCAR team.

In short, I know men, and life's not easy for them these days.

Wherever I go-on business or for speaking engagements, sporting events, or whatever-I run into guys who all seem to have the same questions and challenges. I can relate to these men because I've faced many of the same issues in...